Make Ghostly Halloween Treats in Minutes

Now that the kids are grown, I miss the excitement of Halloween, when we would get the kids dressed up and shepherd them around the neighborhood. Neither of my boys was big on candy so recently, I called Chris in New York and asked him what made Halloween so special. He recalled the thrill of being out in the dark, the ghostly home decorations, jack-o-lanterns on front porches and the adults dressed in costume dispensing treats. San Francisco’s temperate fall weather also contributed to the enjoyment of the evening.

As a trick-or-treat “deprived” child myself, I’m glad Chris has such fond childhood memories. (Out of deference to his mom, he left out the middle school Halloween years when he gathered with other boys from school, when daring but harmless “tricks” were more fun that “treats.”)

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Make an Avocado Salad from a Chic LA Restaurant

By Joy Liao

Several years ago, while living in Los Angeles, I began toying with the idea of working in the culinary field. However, without a culinary degree nor any professional kitchen experience, I hadn't quite figured out how to jump start my career.

Fortunately, having gotten to know the executive chef at one of my favorite restaurants, I casually asked if I could shadow in his kitchen. To my surprise, he agreed.

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Pumpkin-Orange Smoothies

By Andrew Hunter

Halloween is the symbolic start of the holiday season in the Hunter household. For Marilyn and me, it’s a transitional time at the table too. Steaks and chops are on the grill less often with more roasts braised for hours on Sundays to eat the rest of the week; and our shopping trips yield fewer summer fruits and veggies and more squashes, roots and gourds.

Pumpkins this year will get carved, roasted, grilled and puréed. We like to buy small orange pumpkin, cut off the stem end, then cut in quarters, clean away the stringy and seedy insides, rub with oil, salt and pepper, and roast until soft and tender. With these chunks of soft pumpkin, we can do a bunch of things from dicing for pasta, to puréeing for soups and mashing into potatoes for an autumnal side.

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It’s Easy Being Green

By Lori Powell

I‘m definitely on a veggie streak these days! I’m a huge fan and have been since I was a kid – a veggie geek from way back. So excuse me if I don’t understand why people are just discovering them now. Part of the reason, of course, is that we are now more aware than ever of how nutritious and life-extending vegetables are…extending our own lives, that is.

I’m not saying that I am off meat. I still have regular hankerings for a good steak or juicy burger! Growing up, my dad preferred his meat lifeless and overcooked, which resulted in a dry piece of jerky (not that I have anything against jerky) that took monumental effort to chew so that you could actually swallow the nuggets (sorry mom, not your fault).

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Fall for Stew

By Katie Barreira

Autumn is the perfect time of year for a savory, tummy-warming bowl of stew. As the weather grows colder and the days shorter, I find myself arriving home from work feeling hungrier and less inclined to cook. And thus, Sundays have become Stew Sundays. Thirty minutes of prep, a couple hours of “set it and forget it” cooking during football and I’ve got dinner covered for at least two nights of the coming week.

Can’t imagine eating the same thing a few nights in a row? No problem; stews are masters of disguise. On Sunday, it’s a steaming bowl, hot off the stove, with a hunk of crusty bread for mopping the rich broth. Monday, the cold meat is shredded and heated with some of the veggies and served on rolls with slaw, for a pulled pork sandwich. And by Wednesday, your thickened stew dresses up as ragu, ladled over soft, creamy polenta or tossed into pasta.

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